#SmartlyOwn With #Rentomojo

Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of a bloggers’ meet by Rentomojo, an event that turned out to be quite an interesting and enlightening one.

What is Rentomojo, you ask?

Well, it is a relatively new ‘made in India’ venture, a platform that allows you to rent bikes, furniture and household appliances in exchange for a nominal ‘Rental Monthly Instalment’ (RMI). The idea is based on the way the modern youth thinks and the way their career paths commonly seem to evolve. For instance, most employees these days are faced with uncertainty about their careers in the long term – not many can really predict where they will be working (another job? another role? another city? another state or country?) beyond a time span of two years.

Considering this, it does make sense to rent out the things you need in your home, vis-a-vis buying all of it. And, Rentomojo is convinced that it is the best platform to do so, that it will make better financial sense to the customers of today than buying assets through upfront cash payments or Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI).

Why rent? Why not buy? The rent vs buy argument.

I have always been the sort of person who has bought things over renting them out; I have always been that way. I don’t even rent out books – I buy them so I can read them without any pressure. That said, this meet-up by #Rentomojo has definitely been an eye-opener.

The discussions with Mr. Geetansh Bamania (founder and IIT alumnus) and Mr. Amardeep (Marketing Head) at the event have opened me up to the various benefits that renting out stuff hold as against buying them.

A pictorial comparison of EMI vs. RMI. Source: Rentomojo

~ When you buy furniture, home appliances or vehicles – buy on EMI basis, actually – it locks in your capital, which could have otherwise been used for more useful purposes. Adhering to a #subscriptionlifestyle instead, where you rent out the things you need leaves your capital free – you don’t have to shell out big-time money upfront in this case.

~ Renting is, indeed, the smart way to own in these days of uncertainty about one’s career. When you change jobs or houses or cities, the assets that you purchase will be a burden that you will have to relocate or dispose of. A #renttoown agreement keeps you free of such worries.

~ Renting things allows you the option of discontinuing when you want to. It allows you the option of getting new things as per the changing lifestyles, changes in the home interior, relocating from a rented house, changing circumstances, changing styles and the ever-evolving and changing you. Buying doesn’t allow you this kind of flexibility.

~ RMIs are quite nominal (at least on Rentomojo) as against EMIs.

~ If you rent appliances or furniture from Rentomojo, you get free relocation services when you change cities/states. If you buy possessions, though, hefty relocation charges need to be undertaken whenever you move out of your current residence.

~ RentoMojo also offers free maintenance of the products you rent from them. Just how nice is that?!

~ With RentoMojo, you get the ‘Rent-To-Own’ option, i.e., the freedom to purchase the product you rent out if you want to. You also have the freedom to swap to a better product than the one you are renting out, if you so wish to.

Left: One of the products offered by Rentomojo, a dining table, displayed at the bloggers’ meet; Right: The RMI for renting out the said dining table

Other salient features of Rentomojo

~ There is a refundable deposit involved when you rent things from Rentomojo, equal to about two months of RMI.

~ The firm also believes in very fair and reasonable cancellation charges, in case you decide to close the rental agreement before the pre-decided time period is up.

~ Thorough checks of the products are ensured before they leave for the customers’ place.

Expansion plans

Rentomojo is presently operational in eight Indian cities – Bangalore, Pune, Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai. Plans to expand to other parts of India are in the offing, as are plans to increase the types and number of products that are offered for rent on the platform.

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Thought-provoking, right? Doesn’t it make a whole lot of sense in today’s world?
Isn’t renting out a great way to #smartlyown?

This post is brought to you in collaboration with Rentomojo. The views expressed herein are entirely honest, entirely my own, not influenced by anything or anyone.